Google has quietly launched Google Talk Guru, an instant message chatbot that can deliver search results and answer queries such as sports scores.
Once a user adds Google Talk Guru to his or her Google Talk chat client, he or she can send it instant messages with a pre-determined set of commands. Here is the list of commands Google currently supports, as well as some of the company's examples:
Sport scores: "score arsenal"
Weather: "weather Nairobi"
Calculate: "123 * 45"
Currency: "120 KES to USD"
Definition: "define laptop"
Translation: "translate earth to French"
Web result: "web Mount Kenya"
Help: "help translate"
Unlike the traditional chatbot, Google Talk Guru doesn't engage in conversation with users; it simply answers queries. It's yet another way to access Google's archives of information, though the company's search engine can perform all of these tasks and then some.
What do you think of Google's new IM bot? Will you use it? Let us know in the comments.